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Before Thomas H. Cook wrote the magnificent book,THE INTERROGATION, there was THE CHATHAM SCHOOL AFFAIR. It is a haunting narrative of a seventy-year-old scandal that devastated a small Cape Cod seaside town and changed it forever. Most of the principals involved in the case or have moved elsewhere. The incident has faded aware in the townís memory. Few people remember the incident; those that do, would rather forget it. Henry Griswald, the son of the last headmaster at the Chatham Academy for Boys, has returned one final time to the place of that tragic night. This novel is Henryís recollection of those events. In 1926, Elizabeth Channing is hired by the headmaster of the Chatham School to work as an art teacher. She was living with her father in Africa until he fell ill and died. She has moved to Massachusetts to try a new life and start something different. Her teaching methods are a bit unorthodox drawing from her life experiences traveling around the world. Students are smitten by her and so are the teachers. Elizabeth is a complex character with lots of things on her mind. She is a mystery to the people in the seaside town of Chatham and everyone is trying to figure her out. Unfortunately, before the school year is over something is going to happen and Ms. Channing will become one of the most hated people in town and by the end of things, everyone will want this teacher put to death. Cook gives us a piece by piece of the infamous Chatham School Affair to tantalize the reader. The author does not tell us straight out what happened. He lets Henry tells his story bit by bit as he visits different spots in town as his memories return. Things will not be clear-cut and some things will be blown way out of proportion with tragic consequences. The CHATHAM SCHOOL AFFAIR is a beautifully written story well deserving of its awards. It is a sad story of someone trying to make a life and being unable to due to circumstances beyond their control. The past affects the future, whether you know about it or not. This book is one of the best mystery novels ever published and destined to be a literary classic. It is a great novel worthy of praise and should be on everyoneís shelf. It is worthwhile read.
Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, January 2003
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